Expression of HIF-1α,COX-2 and the correlation with lymph node metastasis and angiogenesis in gastric carcinoma

Objective To study the expression of hypoxia inducible factor-lalpha (HIF-1α) and eyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in gastric carcinoma and its correlation with lymph node metastasis and microvascular density (MVD). -Methods HIF-1α and COX-2 expression were detected by immunohistochemistry in 64 cases of gastric carcinoma and 15 cases of normal gastric mucosa tissues, MVD of the section marked with CD34 antibody was calculated. Results The positive rates of HIF-1α and COX-2 in 64 cases of gastric carcinoma were 67.19% and 78.13% respectively. The expressions of HIF-1α and COX-2 were significantly higher in gastric carcinoma than in normal gastric mucosa tissue(P < 0.05). The expressions of HIF-1α and COX-2 in gastric carcinoma were significantly associated with TNM stage, invasive depth and lymph node metastasis (P< 0.05) except for patient's age, sex and tumor grade.There were positive correlation between HIF-1α expression with COX-2 (rs=0.584, P<0.01). The MVD of cases with positive HIF-1α expression(36.78±10.46) was significantly higher than those without HIF-1α expression(17.92±3.71), the MVD of cases with positive COX-2 expression(37.59±10.75) was also higher than those without COX-2 expression (18.43±4.15). The expression of HIF-1α and COX-2 was associated with MVD(rs=0.624, 0.697, P<0.01). Conclusion HIF-1α and COX-2 play important roles in the pathway of carcinogenesis and progression of gastric carcinoma, and they may contribute to tumor angiogenesis through the same way, thus combined detection of HIF-1α and COX-2 may be recommended for diagnosis of gastric cancer and estimation of prognosis. Key words: Stomach neoplasms;  Immunohistochemistry;  Hypoxia-inducible factor-1, alpha subunit;  Cyclooxygenase-2;  Microvascular density;  Lymphatic metastasis